The Sun. — London, England, 1809-07-15 00:00:00

doßrine had been laid down by / Beecaria, Montes. crieu, and all writers on Civil jurivrudence, insthe most enlightened times, He put it, however, to the feelings of every Gentleman who heard him, if the punishment proposed in the present instance was not too severe, admitting the criminality of the pa-. rent. Brcause a parent. has not been able to obtain I Eratuitou4y an appointment for 'his son, for which he had made every exertion ,to quality him, he con fortns to an existing praaice, and gives a c.onsidera— ffon for the appointment. There is no design 'here to defraud or to injure the. public. service. Fop the sake of his son," the parent has taken the greatest • pains to qualify him for his :destined situation. If th e re is any guilt incurred here, 'how much greater must' be the guilt of the seller, who adds-considera bly to the necessary expenee of such a preparation. But even supposing and ,allowing the parents - to be guilty,. was the innocent child to be involved in the punishment, without - any regard to his merit and good condua in their service? There was farther, he argued, a contraetand engagement entered into between the Company and its servants, which was binding for five years, and in which contra& there was'a clause to give each individual notice of , any charge or accusation against him, beforedismission, that he might hate an opportunity of answering fut himself:- In the present instance there would be - a tnahilest vi . olation-_ of this contraa, to which the young man bad 'a right to expertthe Company should abide: If the Resolution was carried into effect, it would be idiot - ions to the.charaaer of the . Company. Mrs. Gardener; another of the pur chasers, losing her husband, had provided in this way for her son, by the 'advice, no doubt, of some of bet friends.. With what relu&ance would she part with her son, in all prObability to - meet no tnore ? Was it then to be believed for a moment, that if she believed she, was aaing improperly, or that her son was likely at some future period to be disgraced by the steps she was taking, she - would have parted with him ripen such terms He con cluded by moving, " That the Court having taken into-tonsideration the Report of the Directors, find the reasons thetein assigned unsatisfaaory, and that the ResolUtion of the Court of Direaors of the ieth of May, for disinis.ing certain Writers and Ca dets in the Company's . servtce, ought not to be car ried into effea." ' Mr. LowbtbEs seconded.this motion. Mr. JAcx.sote BAtsvxs contended, that whether the.regulati6.Was or was not known, the practice was gene ally allowed to be corrupt, and that was enough. If these young men were recalled, they had to blame their fathers, their mothers, and un cles, who had provided for them in this illegal way, and net the Company, who were called on to do what their honour and general policy required. Any general speculations on hurpanity were idle ; it was the interests of the Company and the Empire they had to consider. He did not 'like this pradice of overhauling the Directors. When they considered the extent of their empire in India, the utmost re gularity would be found necessary: Humanity was very pretty nth us place,. but they had considerations to look to at present. To be recalled roust certain ly be a hardship on theSe young people but who brought them into that situation ? He was of opi nion they Ought to be recalled. Mr. JOHNS ONE was of opinion that enough had already both been said and written on the subjed. Three things,:however, were chiefly to be consider ed—the situation of the young men, that in which the Die:dors stoot i t, and the means of reconciling, if possible, the interests and duties of both. Most of the young men were-under age when they came into the service, and had no money either to enable them to aa themselves, or to employ agents. Their parents, he admitted, must have Inown ,that their condu6t was incorred 3 but moral turpitude, at the same time, was more chargeable on the sellers than the buyers. Should these young men be recalled, it must rum them _for life. On the other hand, the Direaurs were - .called on to discharge their important functions, and to carry their regdlations into erred, or the evil resulting' to ilae . whole might be still greater than the hardship to the individual. It was necessary to check corruption, and to ,bear testimony agait.st it, in whatever Shape it appeared. Not withstanding the manner of their appointment, some of thoSe young men might possess the highest merit. In order, therefore, to reconcile both sides of the question, he would recommend it to the Directors to have the young men examined in India, and to have them sent bonne or not, according to the result of the inquiry. In all circumstances the DireCtors had a power to recall the servants of the Company, however exalted their rank ; on this ground the re solution could not be opposed. it was on the ground of expediency only that he would dissuade their re call. No man would advise to dismiss a.valuable officer from the militia or ordnance, though it should be•discoVered that he had purchased his commission contrary to law, nor in a case of simony, did he suppose any man would advise to dismiss a clergy man of distinguished character and talents. Mr, MARRIOTT observed, that Hie present ques tion ought not to be "considered as a distina, ot, of itself, a complete case ;. it was part only of a very great system of reform that had been found neces sary. The arguments derived from private feeling and humanity would not come in competition wito the important considerations of the. public interest. Certain con opt praEbess had been discovered to exist, thesDirettors had adopted measures to prevent their rectirrence,. by -recalling the persons whose n- tae; were invOlved in the discovery. It was not much to punish them that .they were to be re . . cAiedi as to prove a warning, and operate as a pre sh;otatives to others. Lie contended that the law was kubwn ; bat even if it should 'not hive been so in t e, time argued by some of his. Honourable F r i e nds, t h ere -was a principle anterior _ to all law, which pointed out to every man the illegality of such radices, 'The . Diredor, whose patronage had been abased, had been exculpated from personal guilt.— ' "'hough .he had suffered his confidence to be abused, yes he,did not go unpunished, tor they excluded him fro'M the . Piredot - Ship 3 ye( they proposed . to excul pite ‘l . l6Sb young • men,, who bad acted in the very .ce of the laws..' They had already passed the At t at ‘,t/tit. to recall theSe men, and 'Why sho„ld th e y / wish toot spend its operation ? Would not / the world think, that, in the ease of the Director, they had aced as if- that case was never likely to be applicable to themselves; whereas in this 'case they were tits tti- be More indulgent, as more likely to he tomd si l os o w/1-> hex= more home to themselyei, and it: this resPe4 elpey would resemblccertai9 Mo dern reformers, who were extremely solicitous to ref - oriel others, but t - Ilacle no attempt to reform them selves—(A laugh), l -He did not wish to inrerfe:e with the Directors; Men wh6 shielded corruption would be themselves corrupt. .The Logislaturemight deprive them of .their Charter, as it had done cer tain Burghs, if they did not oppose corruption . ?y every means in their power. If had been said that the Direaors had been to blame. fdr-aheir negligence in allowing the sale of •thoce appointments, and therefore they were the persons to .be punished.--r Oh thesame principle it, might be said to the Hon. Gentleman, ifa thief broke into. his house, that he,. and not the thief - ought to be hanged, because he had not taken sufficient precautions to guard against him—(A laugh):—A stand was to be made some where, and why not in the.present instance as well as at any future ? There was danger, be thought, in delay. The Legislature would reform them if they did not reform themselves. He concluded by rnov -ing the previous question. Mr. SiNiEoN seconded this motion, from a convic tion that the Direaors, knoWing their humanity and dispositions as he did, would not 'have had, re course to the measure unless . theyhad found it -a ne cessary one. , The advocatesogainst the measure had argued on the grounds of humanity, that the ex pence off going to India and coming home would be only a pail of the evil to' which these young men were liable. It was-also argued that they 'could not again be appointed, whatever might be their merits. Whatever might be said on this ground, the mea sure he conceived to be necessary, and to lessen the evil as much as possible, were a subscription Open ed; he, for . one, would contribute willingly to it 5001.. , (Hear, hear !) Mr. STEPHEN spoke at great length, and with much eloquence and etfea, in favour of the original motion, but our limits do not permit us to enter into his ,speech. The question, he contended, was a mat ter-of morals, and not of Oriental policy. He was obliged, from a sense of moral obligation, to oprAe the Re'iolttliOns of the. - Direaors. In such ques tions the feelings were to be attended to, for God and nature had not furnished us with feelings 3nd passions in vain. They were in many instances des tined to be the guides of human conduct. No law, .human or divine, would warrant them to punish the : sins of the fathers upon the children. Mr. JACX.SoN spoke chiefly in reply to the pre ceding speaker, aud with equal etrea, on the other side of the question. The Direaors, he contended, had to at for the interest and benefit of all, and however much sympathy individual suffering [night ext ite, it was their duty to prefer the interest of the million to the partial accommodation and conve nience of a few. Mr. LowNoas and Mr. Mooai spoke at some length for the original motion. The CHAIRMAN stated, the Direaors had consult ed the highest law authorities on the points at issue, and he should read to the Meeting these opinions, signed by; t heAttorney and the Solicitor General, arid Mr. Adam. It was their opinion, that the General Court of Proprietors had , no right to rescind the lie 'solutions of the Court of Directors, and that the per sons so recalled could not be restored. The Direc tors were aware that they were acting in'their re spective respousibiliiy, and that they might be dis missed at a future period by the Proprietors. They :aeled with this knowledge, but . wished to follow that course which their own 'conscience and the ge neral good seemed to-require. The least otferisive way of getting 'rid of the business would certainly be to vote for the previous question, as moved by his Hon. Friend. Mr. SARSoM spoke in reply. After which the previous question was put and carried by a great tnajority.—The Court adjourned at five o'clock, sine , cite.' MAILS. A :vED —1 Dublin , Waterford. DuE— I Lisbon, 1 N 1.10.3, I Waterford. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT TWI , LV E o'cLocx,• Consols - - - 68 1 1 2 1 Ornnium - - - pr. T II S U N. SOLIM QUI3 DICSItt /ALSUM AUDIAT? L 0 ND 01V, SATURDAY, JULY 15, 1809. , Letters from Dover, received this day, state that the French . Flotilla sailed on Thursday last, from Boulogne, and had reached half way bet Ween that port and Calais, when they were obliged to put back by an adverse wind. Some 'letters state the amount_ of this Flotilla to be between four and 500, and others at about 250. It is, how ever, certain, that they have been obliged to put back. It is supposed that they were destined to Flushing, 111 consequence of an expelled Expedition from this Country. Last night Crutch Papers to the 9th inst. reached town, but they are quite barren' of intelligence. It is stated in.an article from Paris, that the fortress of Comorn, in Hungary, is invested, and that it is about to be bombarded. There are some details from Spain given, not for the purpose of communicating information, but of concealing the real situation of the French troops in that Country. The favourable turn which atiairs have taken upon the Continent has so completely •faisified the pre dialions (we Will not say disappointed the wishes) of some of the Opposr ion Writers, that they cannot even diSCU . S3 the subject with temper. We have upon more than one occasion noticed the extienle relnClance which they sheaved to admit that t hu. A.ns trians were viatorions on the 21st and 22d May.--7 At first, it was contended that it appeared quite deny, from the Frendh Bulletin, that the Austrians were defeated—then it was admitted that it might t* a drawn battle ;-- - at last it was acknowledged' to, be a victory on tbd part of thie Aastrians.— Alter such a concession, we were surprised yes terday to see an elaborate - artiele in an Opposition Faller, to prove that the battle - of Aspern was a drawn:battle, that neither of the parties obtained their objea, and that it resembled the battle of Ey lau. It would be an insult to the understanding of our Readers to enter into a serious answer to such assertions, and to attempt to convince those who are so blinded by party prejudice as to hold ; such lan guage, would be a hopeless task. Indeed, we should not have noticed them, if they had not been followed up by some attacks upon • Ministers for sending an Expedition' to the Continent, first, be cause it is upon too large a scale, and 2dly, because it is not sufficiently large. It is certainly rather adifficult matter to answer charge's which assume so compre hensive a form, and which are in themselves of so opposite a nature ; however, it is some satisfa&ion to know that both the charges cannot be right. The article td which we allude sets out with stating, that .we have . eighty thousand men on foreign service, that the population of this country is not equal to such a force, and that, as we cannot send armies to the Continent equal to the French in point of num bers, we ought not to send any at all. After this very sagaCious axiom, we are favoured, as usual, with a long panegyric upon BUONAPARTE'S wonderful ta lents : we are told that he never hitters away his force for the purpose of defending a number of assailable points. "He only proposes to himself one obje4t at a time, and upon this single' object, he brings all his powers and faculties to bear." ' As a proof of this unity of obje&, we are surprized that the paper in question, did not remind its readers, that he at tacked Austria, when he was engaged in war with Spain', and the concentration of his forces to one single point no3lit have been happily illustrated, by stating, that within the space of a very few weeks, French armies were defeated in Portugal, in Gallicia, in Catalonia, in Arragon, in Italy, and on the Banks of the Danube. But the result of al l this reasoning is, that we ought to abandon Sicily, Portugal, and Spain, to give all our assistance to Austria; but Unless we can send -an Army of 80,000 men to support the Austrians, which we are told is inzpraOicatle, we ought not to send a man ; that is to say, we are to give up the objects which we can accomplish, in order to at tempt one which we are told is impossible. After such a display of political wisdom, we are not surprized to be told, that 40 or 50,000 British troops ailing in the' rear of the French, intercepting their communica tions with their own Country, cutting off their sup plies and reinforcements, and giving confidence and energy to the Nations that are panting for an oppor tunity of throwing off the French yoke, will be of no permanent use to the general cause, and for these reasons—" We may land this force," and we may take a few towns," but BUONAPARTE will not grudge us a few triumphs, for ‘f as soon as he has reduced the Archduke CHARLES to a state in which he will be no longer formidable, he will tell two of his Mar shals to go and throw the English into the Sea." Such is the political sagacity, such the unprejudiced and patriotic feeling of the party (for we presume the Paper in question speaks its sentiments), which arrogates to itself all the. Talents of the Country, and which is adopting every schethe to force itself into the management of public affairs. We have no wish to enjoy any triumph over Colonel WARDLE i fOr in his present situation such a triumph would have a malignant aspe6l, and our feelings respeaing that person are indeed of a much colder nature than any that belong to resentment and malice. But our resin& for theYublic induces us to look with more than satisfac.'tiOn on any mea sures that tend to correEt.its misconceptions, and im press it with a proper sense of what is due to its own character.—Upon this principle we heard with much pleasure that Mr. DIXON' had given notice on Wed nesday last in the Court of Common Coun cil, of his intention. to bring forward a Motion for rescinding the Vote of Thanks to Colonel 'WARDLE, in consequence of what occurred at the recent trial in the Court of King's Bench, for the charader'of Col. WARDLE received such a wound on that occasion, as seemed to us past the possibility of cure. Still, however, we feel curious to know what Mr. WAITHMAN and men of his decription, can urge in defence or palliation of the Colonel's motives and conduct. It is needless for us to repeat the circumstances of the trial, as they must be fresh in every body's memory 5 but on a subjea so in teresting, after all the alarm, all the anxiety, and all the commotion which Colonel WARDLICs pre% ions measures had excited, a few words may not be unne cessary.—Colonel 'WARDLE frequently declared that he felt no hostility towards the Duke of YORK, and that nothing but a desire to bring 'forward a great public abuse, a desire founded upon a sense of duty to the country, could have induced him to aa the part which he had assumed. But it plainly appeared from testimony given ob oath, that he ad vised Mr, WRZGHT the Upholsteier, to bring an ac . tion against the Doke orYoalc, for the money which Mrs. CLARKE owed to him, and offered to pay tba costs, in case of failure. If this advice, and this offer, do not indicate more of personal hostility than a sense; of public duty, in the opinion of the most bigotted zealot of party, he must be utterly, devoid of any power to discriminate. This is a point that ought to be particularly attended to, when the motion is brought forward in the Court of Common Council, and Colonel WARDLE',S COlldt.l6l and character are to be submitted to inquiry. ,We shall say' nothing about the bribing of Mrs. CLARKE, by a promise.lo furnish her house, to bring forward all she could in the House of Commons, and then endeavouring to leave her involved in the debt to Mr. Wnruirr, be cause that will be a main point in the debate, if any can arise upon a point so clear. As to his taking her Letters, contrary to her desire, and in defiance of her efforts to retain them, that was properly stigma tized by Mr. WINDHAM, and every man of honour in the world must have felt and thought as he did,. But what can be thought of a man who not only en deavours to leave his chief agent in the lurch, but at tempts to brand her, in the eyes of mankind, with the guilt of perjury, and not only her, but a'witness whose character is unimpeaohed, .and who had no apparent interest in the question ? This point will - no doubt engage the attention of Mr. Dixozi , and will probably defy the ingenuity ,of party to cover or disguise. Nor should it be forgotten that the Attor-. ney-General dared thp Defendant's Counsel to bring tor ward Major Donp, one of the_ persons, who, COI, WARDLE declares, could'have Proved that the wit nesses had been guilty of perjury against him. We before observed, and we think proper to repeat it, that if Serjeant Bgs-2 thought Major DODD could have been of any - service to his Client, he is too able and too zealous an adVocate to have lost the benefit of , his testimony. We shall, fo'r the pre3enr, drop the subjea, juse l tremarking, that it we :could ..4.liSirtin .1; the testimony:of - Mrs. CLARK.E, supported' as it was by Mr. D. WRIGHT, respecting the debt owing to his brother, is it possible to suppose' that Mr.. WRIGHT himself would have trusted Mrs. CLARKE on her own account, while she already was indebted to him to a considerable amount, and when he-tnust have known that she was deprived of the proteetion that gave her any chance of power to discharge it ? The Public must feel much indebted to Mr. Dixon for his intention to bring this subjea forward, and the City of London in particular, since his objea is to save its charaEter from the disgrace And ridicule that might fall on it, if it were topersevere in shew ing mark's of respect, gratitude, and liberality, when it ought rather to manifest scorn and indignation. 'Yesterday morning' his MAJESTY, the Duke of YOltiti, Princesses AUGUSTA and SOPHIA, accompa- nied by Lady THYNNE, General. FITZROY, Colonels TAYLOR and Dasßßow, rode in Windsor Great Park, and returned at twelve o'clock to the Palace. Yesterday. morning the Duke of YORK, and Prin.- cess SOPHIA of GLOUCESTER, arrived at Windsor, upon a visit to their MAJESTIES. Several vessels arrived yesterday from Hamburgh. They met with no tuolesia'tion on their passage, a' 0 d saltv.ed the little British garrison which had taken possession of Cuxhaven. Ai liamburgh the reports oft recent detest of the French continued to prevail as generally - as ever. . A report prevailed yesterday afternoon, in the City, said to be founded on letters from Holland, that ao. ' Armistice find been concluded between the'French, and Austrian armies, including articles intended to he' the basis of a Peace. It is probable, however, that this rumour has originated merely from the pa ragraphs in the German Papers, to which, we alluded in our last. We could not learn that any letters had arrived from Holland yesterday. Letters were yesterday received from Gotten- , b►zrgh, which stated a that British Squadron of eight Sail of Line had sailed up the Baltic to bombard Cronstadt. The Right Brigade of Guardc,, forming a part of the Expedition, embarked on board the transports yesterday at Chatham.• The Left Brigade embarks this morning. All the Officers are to be on board on Sunday. Yesterday the Earl of CHATHAM had a numerous levee of Naval and Military Officers, at his house its Hill-street, among who were— Sir Home Popham, Sir Richard Keats, Generals Grosve nor, Brownrig, and Graham, Colonel Lang, colonel Carry, Captain Gardner, &c. Yesterday the whole of the Earl of CHATHAM'i campaign eqnipage and baggage, together with that of his Aides-de-Camp and Suite, were conveyed from his Lordship's house in Hill-street;, for embar kation at Ratnsgate ; and early to-morrow morning his Lordship, and a numerous train of Officers, will leave town for the above place. The report of a trial yesterday, in the Court of ,king's Bench, which our Readers will find in out Paper of this day, deserves the particv . ar attention of the public. Factious people have often brought char g es against Government for permitting the sale vt public appointments, though it is certain that there never was a period in which so few of such transac tions ever occurred; and it is equally .certain that IVlinisters are as vigilant as possible to trace and put a stop to every abuse of this nature. Yesterday afternoon, at three o'clock, a Cabinet Council was held at Burlington-house, which did not break up till six o'clock, at which were present His G:ilQe ' , the Duke of Portland, the Lord Chancellor , Earls Camden, Chatham, Livervoul, Ilarrowby, VVestmor" land, and bat'nurst ; Lords MulArave, Castlereagh, and Lt• vison Gower; Mr. Secretary Carnitne, and the 'Chancenot of the Exchequer. • • The Copenhagen prize-xoney begat t aying 0 0 Wednesday last.